The Dun Lughaidh class to 1975 are holding a reunion in the Malthouse on the Dublin Road on Friday September 11th.
A buffet will be served on the night and tickets are priced €12.
For further details contact one of the following: Aileen Conway (Conlon) 087 6757231; Mary McCabe (McBride) 042 9662412; Yvonne Waring (Richardson) 087 6207609; Marie Bell (Califf) 086 3489852 or Caroline Bond 0868510181.
St Mary’s College was amongst the schools broken into at the weekend
Five local schools were broken into over the course of three days at the weekend.
The first break-ins occurred when on Saturday when the Redeemer Boys’ School and Scoil Eoin Baiste in Fatima were broken into. Nothing was taken from the Redeemer but a small amount of cash was taken from Scoil Eoin Baiste.
Then on Sunday, St Mary’s College – known locally as the Marist – was broken into after a stone was thrown through a window. While its offices were ransacked, nothing was taken.
Then in the early hours of Monday morning at around 3.20am, the De La Salle secondary school was broken into with glass smashed in doors. Finally the office of the nearby Dun Lughaidh secondary school were broken into around the same time. The offices were ransacked but again nothing was taken.
Gardaí believe the same individual may have been behind the five break-ins and are appealing for anyone with information to contact them at Dundalk Garda Station.
Tara Erraught
The Washington Post has hit out at a number of UK-based critics over their treatment of Dundalk native Tara Erraught in reviews of Glyndebourne’s new ‘Der Rosenkavalier’.
The mezzo-soprano, who comes from Ravensdale, recently made her UK stage debut in ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ after building up an impressive resumé in Germany.
However, five male UK critics have criticised Tara not for her level or tone but for her physical appearance – branding her “chubby” and “dumpy”.
“Tara Erraught’s Octavian is a chubby bundle of puppy-fat,” wrote Andrew Clark in the Financial Times, adding, as an afterthought, “albeit gloriously sung”. In the Telegraph, Rupert Christiansen said that she “sings with vibrant assurance and proves herself a spirited comedian. But she is dumpy of stature…”
The critics – all men – have been accused of “overt sexism” by singers who pointed out that Luciano Pavarotti never came in for criticism over his large frame.
Responding to the criticism Anne Midgette of the Washington Post leapt to the defence of Tara, saying: “Five of them designated Tara Erraught’s Octavian as a problem with the show, more or less explicitly, based entirely on her looks.
“No critic should be too eager to cast stones. I have certainly written things in reviews that had people up in arms, and I have certainly observed that a given singer was not small, when the occasion warranted it. But there’ s a distinction between description and criticism. Mentioning a singer’s looks may be relevant in some cases, but dismissing a strong vocal performance as a “problem” because of those looks seems to me singularly clueless.
“It’s also a shade disingenuous, since I believe that if Erraught had been really fat, rather than simply curvy, the press would have held its collective tongue. We’ve learned enough not to call the fat lady “fat,” in her own hearing, but when she’s merely zaftig, it seems, she’s fair game. Furthermore, it’s lazy. It is perfectly legitimate to be underwhelmed by a singer; but there is an accompanying responsibility to think carefully about what was or wasn’t lacking in the performance, rather than kissing a singer off with faint praise (“gloriously sung,” if true, surely merits more than an offhand mention?) and blaming everything on her weight. (Not everyone, incidentally, saw problems. Fiona Maddocks of the Observer tweeted, “Ahead of full review: Tara Erraught’s Octavian is touching, innocent, beautifully sung, beautifully acted.”)
“It certainly brought wider attention to Tara Erraught, who, among other future engagements, will be singing the title role of “La Cenerentola” at the Washington National Opera in almost exactly one year. It would be a nice twist on “Cinderella” story if the story of badly-treated young woman who triumphs could actually come true.”
You can read the full Washington Post article here.
Websites dedicated to opera have been swamped with messages of support for the 27-year-old former Dun Lughaidh student. She has so far kept her thoughts to herself, though Rupert Christiansen of The Telegraph has defended his comments, saying that though she is pretty and appealing, her physical appearance makes her unsuited to a role where she is playing a young nobleman, a principal-boy type.
The incident has caused quite a stir in the operatic community, even warranting an article on The Daily Mail website.
Dun Lughaidh secondary school will present the show Hairspray this week.
There will be three performances on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 7.30pm each night.
Admission is €10 with tickets available from the school at 042-9334474.
Tara Erraught
The Bavarian Government in Germany has honoured Ravensdale singer Tara Erraught for her contribution to the arts in the region.
The mezzo-soprano has been living in Bavaria for a number of years and earned widespread international acclaim for appearances in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges and Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi.
Now the former Dun Lughaidh student has had the prestigious Pro meritis scientiae et litterarum bestowed on her. This is the 13th year of the awards, which are given out for outstanding contribution to science and the arts.
The 26-year-old is only the fifth musician to receive this honour since the award’s inception and the youngest to have earned it.
The award comes on the tails of Tara’s successful debut North American recital tour.
Upcoming performances include a world premiere, and three role debuts amongst other engagements. In late spring/early summer 2013, Tara Erraught sings Nicklausse/The Muse (role debut) in Offenbach’s Le Contes d’Hoffmann with the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, followed by a recital at Nymphenburg Sommer in celebration of the festival’s 10th anniversary.
Fall 2013/winter 2014 performances include creating the role of Kitty in the world premiere of Iain Bell’s A Harlot’s Progress at Theater an der Wien; and with Bayerische Staatsoper, she reprises her role as Hansel in Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel, and as Angelina in Rosssini’s La Cenerentola.
Also in Munich, Tara makes her role debut as Sesto in Mozart’s La Clemenza de Tito. In spring 2014, she returns to the UK and the Glyndebourne Festival, in yet another role debut. Summer engagements include the Bayerische Staatsoper’s productions of Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten and the second set of performances of La Clemanza Di Tito.
Future performances include Ms. Erraught’s debut at the BBC Proms, a second North American recital tour, and stage debuts at the Washington National Opera and San Francisco Opera.
Tara – who is a past pupil of Geraldine McGee on the Dublin Road – graduated from the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin before going on to become a member of the opera studio at the Bayerische Stattsoper in 2008.
Eilish Byrne with Dun Lughaidh principal Siobhan Greer
Irish Paralympian Eilish Byrne was the guest of honour at the recent Dun Lughaidh Secondary School awards night.
The awards, which took place last Thursday night in the school’s gymnasium, seen a host of awards and prizes handed out to students, including the Sixth Year Student of the Year award to Catriona Sweeney.
It was past pupil Eilish – who competed in the equestrian events at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012, who took centre stage, however, as she addressed the large gathering after receiving a warm welcome from principal Siobhan Greer.
Catriona Sweeney receives her Sixth Year Student of the Year award from Mr Ray Byrne
Further traffic calming measures are being proposed to tackle speeding motorists close to two secondary schools in Dundalk.
Councillors have been told that some motorists were caught travelling at speeds of up to 135km-per-hour on the Castleblayney approach to the town close to the De La Salle and Dun Lughaidh secondary schools.
It’s now being recommended that a design be drawn up and funding sought for further traffic calming measures, along with a length of footpath on the southern side of the road, from the petrol station to Grey Acre Road – and road markings to visually reduce the width of the carriageway.
Talk of the Town 